State officials recently created the new Veterans Affairs Agency , which created a user-friendly web portal offering information on the most frequently asked questions.

Michigan House Democrats have started a new Veterans Task Force to tackle veteran-related policy initiatives and recommendations, and Gov. Rick Snyder announced a program to help train them in IT-related service. The Veterans Affairs Agency also is trying to connect them with employers.

One of the biggest issues is the gap between employers looking for skilled workers and the state’s roughly 86,000 unemployed veterans. The state is working with MSU to solve it.

Many veterans undergo extensive technological training, something employers complain they have a hard time finding, said Ingrid Tighe, an employment analyst with the Veterans Affairs Agency. Yet they have trouble communicating that to employers, she said.

Tighe said she’s hopeful the new Veterans Resource Center will help find work for MSU’s veterans, which the agency has been in contact with.

“Our main goal is to connect with veterans who are there to make sure they’re getting their services and benefits, but also to create a pipeline (between veterans and employers),” she said.

Jerred Pender, president of MSU’s chapter of the Student Veterans of America, said there’s a big demand for that.

“I get bombarded with emails and letters about either job fairs designated for veterans or veterans workshops — everything,” Pender said. “I’m just one person. I can’t really shoot all of that out all of the time, and that’s what the resource center is about.”

State officials say they expect between 5,000 and 10,000 veterans to return every year after President Barack Obama formally ended the Iraq War in 2011 and scaled down military operations in Afghanistan.

“We have a lot of folks coming home right now and this is a real opportunity, and the agency and governor see the opportunity these folks present,” said Veronica LaDuke, public information officer for the Veterans Affairs Agency.